


Saber

by 19thjester



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: Drug Mentions, Fencing, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-27
Updated: 2017-02-27
Packaged: 2018-09-27 05:57:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9979415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/19thjester/pseuds/19thjester
Summary: Sam leaps into a teenage Latina who fences with a saber and he rights a wrong in her life.





	1. Chapter 1

A crackle of blue electrical light. Then: mostly darkness.

“Naaaaat!” Bouncing. Sam was laying prone on a bed, mostly under blankets. From what he could see of the lights, they were flickering on and off. “Naaaataleeeeeah! It’s time to get up!” More bouncing. Sam rolled over, pushed the blankets back and opened his eyes a crack.

A young boy, no older than ten or eleven, with dark hair and eyes over brown skin, was staring at him from the end of the bed. “You got school today!”

“Okay, okay, I’m getting up.” Sam swung his legs over the edge, assuming his feet would hit the floor. When they didn’t hit, he scooted out further and further until… THUD! Sam looked up. Oh. That was why the ceiling had seemed closer than usual. He’d been in the top bunk of a bunk bed.

The boy was now standing over him. “Are you okay? The ladder is over there.”

“Ah yeah, sure, I’m okay. You said I had to get up, so why not get a jump start?” Sam smiled sheepishly.

“Nerd,” said a female voice. It came from the girl in the bottom bunk, whose coloring matched their brother’s. She was sitting up in her bed, a fashion magazine in her lap.

“She’s the nerd, Nat. Ange, you’re driving us. Remember?” the boy said. “Hurry up before Mama threatens to take away your make-up again.”

“And José will help me find it if she hides it, so get a move on, squirt.” Ange applied some eyeliner, a mirror held in her other hand.

The boy scurried out of the room. Sam opened the closet, and was greeted by two sides: one side stuffed to the brim with the latest in trendy clothes, the other side holding carefully mended jeans, jerseys and T-shirts. Sam grabbed from the sporty side and prayed he was right. He rushed to the bathroom to dress and get ready.

An older boy was just walking out of the bathroom as Sam hurried in. Sam locked the door behind himself and took a look in the mirror. A teenage Latina stared back, her dark hair cut in a bob. He dressed quickly, but before he could try to find any kind of usable hygiene products in the cluttered bathroom, which had cans of Axe and various beauty products covering the counters, there was a pounding on the door. “Nat! Ange is leaving soon! Get out of there now!”

Sam opened the door to see the boy who’d woken him up. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” The boy held out a battered brown bookbag, which Sam gratefully took, then they ran out the door. 

“What about breakfast?” Sam asked, his stomach grumbling.

“Did your brains fall out overnight?” the boy asked.

On the ride to school, Sam gathered that his Leapee’s name was Natalia Torres, and he was riding with Natalia’s siblings Angelica and Mateo. Their older brother José was dropping off two younger siblings at their elementary school, but Mateo was coming along because the middle school was next door to the high school.

At least Natalia was well-organized. Sam could tell she had an after-school job at a fast food place, going by the neatly folded uniform shirt and cap tucked inside her bag. The fencing mask said that Natalia also fenced but Sam wasn’t sure how often that was.

As they went inside, Sam finally located a phone in the bookbag. The model of smartphone told him that he was somewhere in the 2010s. Sam said a silent prayer and pressed his thumb to the home button. The phone, freshly charged, unlocked and Sam breathed a sigh of relief. It sucked, having to wait up to several hours for Al to get the passcode from the Leapee in the waiting room, and Sam also had to hope they hadn’t swiss-cheesed on the passcode either.

The calendar app said this was April ninth, 2013. The weather app said he was in San Antonio, most likely in Texas according to the flags on the flagpole outside of the school. He was following behind Ange as he checked Natalia’s phone.

As they approached the cafeteria, Sam figured out that they were getting breakfast. The lunch lady asked to see Natalia's ID, which Sam had thought to find in the bookbag ahead of time. "0.00" appeared on the register, so they were paying nothing for breakfast. Sam gathered that Natalia's family's income was below the poverty line. If you wanted something in this family, you had to work on it.

José came in about ten minutes after Ange and Sam sat down to breakfast. Ange didn’t respond to him, so Sam scrolled through Natalia’s phone for more clues. Natalia had her schedule, complete with classes, carefully set up in Google, which was something Sam was only vaguely familiar with through his Leaps set in the future. Google’s calendar told him that after school, he had to go to the fencing club for a few hours, then work until almost midnight. Sam guessed Natalia got dinner at work.

A few hours later, Al showed up during Natalia’s study hall, for which Sam was very grateful. Sam waved to Al from the algebra homework he was working on, then made a show of looking around then grimacing, to show he wasn’t sure how he could get out.

Al nodded, cigar in mouth, then they watched as a boy slipped out and the teacher didn’t look up. Sam shrugged and left as well, his Observer on his heels.

In the girls’ bathroom, Al said, “Ziggy’s having a hard time since you’re over ten years into the future. She wants me to report back, see what we can figure out from your current circumstances. Do you know where you are?”

“I’m in San Antonio, Texas. I’m in a girl named Natalia Torres. Al, this girl has a packed schedule.” Sam held up the phone with the Google calendar open to show him, and Al leaned forward, interested in the strange futuristic device. “She leaves home in the morning every day and doesn’t get home until past midnight. Today, she's got to go to some fencing club then to a job. I don’t blame her- her house seemed crazy this morning.”

“What do you mean, crazy?”

“She’s got five brothers and sisters and the parents didn’t seem to be around. Or there's only the mother- I don't know. They didn't mention the father.”

Al nodded, glancing down at his handlink. “Ziggy says that happens- working parents need to provide for the family, so they’re probably out working multiple jobs. How are the brothers and sisters?”

“Mateo- he’s about eleven- seems close to me. José seems ready to get out of the house. Ange cares more about make-up and fashion. She called me a nerd this morning.” Sam’s forehead furrowed.

Al couldn’t hide his smile. “We-ell, you are, Sam…” He punched some things into his handlink and waited for Ziggy to pull all this information together. The handlink bleeped and blooped. “No, Ziggy, we’re not asking you to be an armchair psychologist. You know the protocol for leaps post-2001 if you can’t pick up anything from Sam. We are making educated guesses here.” The handlink’s green and pink lights blinked. “Okay. Ziggy thinks that it’s possible something happens between Natalia and her family to make them stop speaking to her altogether. You need to fix that.”

“But how? They all seem busy and Natalia doesn’t seem like she wants to interact with them.”

Al shrugged. “That’s your problem to fix. Now can we get back to study hall?” He was now staring hopefully towards the bathroom door, moving this way and that to get a look past Sam’s broad shoulders.

“We can’t talk in study hall-” Sam stopped as he also stared towards the door, figuring out what his friend was looking for. “Al.”

“Well, nobody’s coming into the bathroom!” Al squawked. He followed Sam out into the hall.

Sam shook his head as he walked back towards study hall, suppressing a smile.

Behind him, he heard Al say, “Ooh, Sam, look at those girls, they’ve got the biggest…” Sam turned around to glare at Al. Al finished, with a small smile, “...piles of books.”

Sam looked down the hall at the girls that Al was referring to. They were holding two or three books each. Sam shook his head and walked back to study hall. 

“I guess I’ll see you at fencing practice, Sam?” Al said. Sam didn’t respond, so Al punched at his handlink, mumbling about the disgrace of having to work with such a prudish colleague. He disappeared through the Imaging Chamber door.


	2. Chapter 2

After the school bell rang, Sam hurried down to the fencing club. This club met twice a week, but Natalia had gym work-outs scheduled for when the club was off and a family babysitting gig scheduled for later that week. So she did interact with her family to some extent.

Natalia’s fencing mask was in the bag, but the club apparently provided her with other fencing gear as well. Remembering something Al told him on a previous leap, Sam listened as he moved the wheel on the combination lock around on Natalia’s locker and got it open. He changed into practice clothes then the fencing gear went on top of that. Following the lead of the others in the locker room, Sam fastened the crotch strap on his jacket. After finding a sword with a C-shaped handle labeled with Torres on the handle, Sam took it out to the gym floor.

Fencing. What did he know about fencing? Al had watched it on TV a few times whenever the summer Olympics were on, hadn’t he? All Sam remembered was people jumping around, poking at each other with swords. As Sam watched the other people practicing, he realized not all other people had the same kind of sword he did. Everyone else had what looked like either a cup or a metal saucer between the blade and the handle.

A middle-aged man slapped Sam on the back. “Natalia! Good to see you today. Thomas is out sick, so you can practice lunges and target accuracy today. The target is over there.” He pointed to a mat set up in front of a dummy torso holding a sword. “Let me know if you want a lesson today, but I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’ve been doing great so far. Remember, we’ve got that tournament coming up this Saturday.”

Tournament? A trickle of sweat worked its way down Sam’s back. He stood on the mat, still watching the other people practice in pairs with their swords and the coach take a pair of boys through a fencing match. Or maybe they were called something else. He didn’t know. All it looked like to him was people attempting to poke each other with long pieces of metal that they were waving around.

Lunges. Okay. There was another lone fencer practicing that, so Sam could copy what they were doing. He practiced on the mat, thrusting his sword forward, making lunges as fast as he could, and hoping desperately that it didn’t look like he had no idea what he was doing. 

The Imaging Chamber door whooshed, and Al walked in, wearing the same Southwestern-patterned vest over a yellow shirt and red pants from earlier that day. “Hiya Sam. How’s it going?”

Sam yanked off his fencer’s mask, his sweaty hair in strings sticking to his forehead. He hissed, “What am I supposed to do, Al? I have no idea how to fence, and I have a tournament coming up! The coach said my usual partner is out today...”

“Ohh, Natalia have a tournament coming up? Ziggy needs to factor that into her calculations. She also projected a possibility this leap has something to do with your needing to fence at some point, so I grabbed something from my office.” Al squatted to pick up something from the Imaging Chamber floor, then stood up. brandishing it into the air.

Sam flinched, eyes crossed, as the tip of a hologram sword passed through his nose. “What the heck, Al?! Where did you get that?”

“You don’t remember this, Sam? I don't blame you and honestly, I don't need to wear it that much. Usually, this thing is hanging in its sheath on my office wall.” Al smiled as he moved the naval officer’s sword back and forth. “Nice, isn’t it? My second wife made me buy it since I was a lieutenant commander and needed it.” He rolled his eyes. “She had a point, but I shredded up her lingerie with it after we split up.”

Sam watched Al play with the sword, moving it in figure-eights and slashing through the air. He was very glad the sword was only a hologram. “Do you even know how to use that thing?”

“Oh, sure.” Al showed Sam the handle of the sword. “It’s a saber, like what you have there. I took fencing at the academy. Sometimes when we’d been drinking, we’d get out our sabers and duel. Not to the death, of course.”

As Al talked, Sam moved around so that he was standing next to Al. Then he moved his saber, swinging it around, so that it was parallel to Al’s saber. “Isn’t yours a little shorter than mine? It looks thicker too.”

“We’ll make it work. Luckily for us, Natalia is a sabreuse. Epees and foils have to hit with the tip, but sabers hit with the edge. It’s a good thing I wasn’t a saber in bed…” Al’s face slid into a dreamy leer, his eyes focusing on the far distance.

“Al! Can we focus, please? What do I do with this thing?” Sam held out the saber at arm’s length, then swept it back and forth. “And what are you talking about with epees and foils?”

Al looked around the room at the people practicing. He pointed out each kind of weapon.“The epees are the ones with cups over the handle, and the foils are the ones with plates. But don’t worry about those. You have a saber, Sam, which has a very different style.” Al demonstrated with his own saber. “With sabers in fencing, it’s all about the attack.” He parried and thrust his sword at an imaginary opponent. Then he turned and saw the dummy. “Ooh! Sam, can you turn that on, please? I can show you what to do!”

Sam found the button on the wall, then he stood next to Al, whose hologram was half standing in him. “Guess I’m sort of in you, Al,” Sam said with a grin.

Al scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Just follow my lead. Sabers move fast, so you gotta pay attention.” Sam’s arm copied Al’s movements as Al fenced with the dummy using his officer’s sword.

“With sabers, you have to hit your opponent from the waist up.” Al demonstrated on the dummy, and Sam flinched when the dummy’s sword arm hit him. “Sam! We gotta work on dodging too.”

Sam worked with Al, gradually getting better with dodging the dummy and scoring some hits of his own. Soon, the bell rang, signifying that it was a quarter to five and people had to get going.

Sam changed into Natalia’s fast food uniform then followed a floppy-haired boy who’d waved him down. This boy, Andrew, was a friend and co-worker of Natalia’s and drove her to work.

As he drove, Andrew rambled on about fencing, including talk about the tournament, which was regional.

"Regional..." Al tapped into his handlink. "Ziggy, is there anything in the archives about a regional fencing tournament? San Antonio, Texas?"

Sam couldn’t answer Al. Instead, he focused on Andrew, answering the best he could. “Yeah, I’m hoping Thomas will get better soon, so we can practice more.”

“Thomas is an ass,” Andrew said. “If anyone deserves to win the saber division, it’s you. And that’s a big deal, coming from a fencer of the perfect weapon, the epee, such as myself...”

“Thanks,” Sam said, smiling. He wasn’t sure what the perfect weapon being the epee thing was all about. But Andrew was grinning when he said it, so Sam guessed it was something he liked to joke about a lot. “I gotta get in more practice and workouts this week, get ready, you know?”

They arrived at the burrito restaurant, which was decorated with various metal cacti all over the walls. From what Sam could tell, Natalia’s job was to follow customers’ instructions and scoop different kinds of meat into a tortilla. Following their pointing, Sam quickly picked up on which meat was which.

He was on his dinner break when Al showed up again. “I found something!” Al said, gleefully pointing to his handlink.

“What is it?”

“Ever since you started leaping into the future, Ziggy made it a point to collect information from different newspapers, tuning in to your current Leap’s time…”

Sam squinted at him, looking up from his chicken burrito.

“Don’t ask me how it works.” Al waved a hand to dismiss it. “Ziggy went back through her future archives- sounds funny, doesn’t it?- and found the newspapers for April 2013 in San Antonio.”

Sam, mouth still full of burrito, nodded for Al to go on.

“In the sports section, there’s this write-up on the fencing tournament. They said Natalia gets thrown out.”

Sam swallowed his bite of burrito. “...how? Natalia seems very dedicated to what she does. Does it say what happened?”

“For fencing, we only threw people out during tournaments if they’re being unruly. Something could have happened to tick her off.” Al stuck his cigar in his mouth and pounded the handlink. “Nope, nada. Newspapers don’t tell you what’s going on in someone’s mind.”

“Maybe Natalia got upset because her family wasn’t there?”

“Or something else. We don’t know, Sam, and even if this leap was in 1993, we might not have known either.”

“I think I need to keep going with her life until I can find out more.” Sam took another bite from his burrito. “Can you talk to her? Let’s meet in the gym tomorrow.”

“She’s still asleep in the Waiting Room. I say you need to get her family to come. Enjoy your dinner, Sam, and don’t forget your saber.”

***

One benefit to having a genius in a high school sophomore’s body was that homework got done quickly. Sam had finished off what Natalia needed done during study hall and the ride back to Natalia’s house. 

Everyone else in the house seemed to be asleep, so Sam was tiptoeing to his room, figuring out how he would find the ladder again so he wouldn’t wake up Ange. Then a hand grabbed his arm and Sam nearly yelped.

It was Mateo. He put a finger to his lips then pointed to the back of the house. Sam followed him to the backyard.

“How was fencing club today?” Mateo asked.

“Fine, I did lunges and… practiced, I guess.”

“Did you have any bouts with anyone?”

Oh, so those were called bouts, not matches. Good to know. “Thomas wasn’t at the club today.” Something hit him. “Do you want to get into the fencing club too?”

“Yeah!” Mateo’s face lit up. “I wanna be just like you, using the saber and everything! Remember when you tried to teach me how, using my toy lightsaber?”

“Oh yeah? I thought you did great with that.”

Thankfully this was the right answer. “Yeah, but I can’t get into the club for another three years.”

“Can you come to my tournament on Saturday? That should help.” Sam smiled, but Mateo’s face melted into disappointment.

“Mama said she has work and so does José. Ange won’t take me.”

“What if I talked to Andrew? What if I got him to take you?”

Mateo’s eyes widened. “Could he do that?”

Sam thought back to the Saturday schedule in Natalia’s calendar. “He has to pick me up for our shift anyway, but I could talk to him, see what he says.”

Mateo grabbed him in a tight hug. “Thank you so much.”

After he let go, Sam smiled. “Not a problem. Shouldn’t we be in bed now?”


	3. Chapter 3

Al circled the bench in the Waiting Room, holding his handlink, a cigar in his mouth. With that schedule of hers that Sam had described, no wonder she was still sleeping.

Ziggy had been keeping an eye on her, and announced to Al that morning that Natalia was expected to wake up soon. Since Sam didn’t have much to worry about until his gym work-out later that day, Al could focus on the Leapee.

Sure enough, she blinked slowly and stretched out. Then she took her time to sit up. Her eyes popped wide open when they took in her surroundings. “Where am I? Where’s Mateo? Where’s Ange? Where are my brothers?”

“Don’t panic,” Al said, his voice gentle. “My name is Al. You’ll be here for a few days, then you’ll go home.”

“Where’s my family? Are they all right?”

Al punched at his handlink. “Yes, they’re all right. Your parents work how many jobs to support you all?”

“My mother works two, sometimes a third if she can fit a temp job into her schedule. Why? Is this about my father?”

“No, no… why would your father be involved?” The handlink beeped. “Oh, he’s been in prison. I see.”

Natalia looked away, her face burning red. “I’m sorry my father’s a drug-addicted piece of crap.” She quickly rubbed a fist at one of her eyes.

“At least he’s still alive.” Al tucked the handlink into his silver jacket’s pocket. “You should be grateful for that.”

“What’s the point of his being alive? He’s still out there, reminding us that we’re garbage.”

“He went in when you were… nine. Don’t you have any good memories of him?”

Natalia shrugged, her eyes hard.

“When I was a kid, my dad once took me to this really nice restaurant. He taught me the right order to use all the forks and spoons, how to order, everything. He told me, ‘When you have a girl, this is exactly what you should be doing.’ And I haven’t forgotten any of what he taught me.”

“My family was too broke for restaurants. No, wait...” A memory came to Natalia, one that softened her expression. “One summer, when I was little, we were lying around because it was too hot outside and the air conditioner was broken. Then Papa told us to come outside. He opened up a fire hydrant for us, and we danced around in the water, along with some other neighborhood kids. He seemed so happy, just watching us.”

“Not so bad for a piece of crap, eh?” 

“That was before.”

“Be happy you have something good to remember him by. I wish my father had lived to see me be the man he wanted me to be.”

“How long ago did he die?”

“Too long ago.” Al’s face clouded over and he pulled out the handlink. “Now, let’s see, what kind of information does Sam need…?”

“Who’s Sam? Did he kidnap me? Did Thomas set this up?”

“Sam is my good friend. He means you no harm, and he didn’t exactly kidnap you either.” Al’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s this Thomas? Why would he do this to you?”

“He’s the only other one in the fencing club who does saber. He doesn’t want to see a girl win in the saber division.”

“Noted.” Al, his mouth a tight and firm line, tapped this into his handlink. Sam wouldn’t run into Thomas until tomorrow, possibly, but it would be good to brief him on this nozzle at some point.

Natalia leaned forward to get a look at what Al was holding. “What’s that?”

“Oh, this? Uh, it’s a PDA.”

Natalie cocked her head at him. “What’s with the lights?”

“It’s an experimental model. So you said you’re in a fencing club? Why’d you get into fencing?” Al didn’t want too many questions about the handlink. Granted, to Natalia, he was someone from the “past,” but with Quantum Leap’s level of security clearance, it didn’t hurt to be too careful.

“It’s my escape. I got into it to work off frustration, last year, but Coach said I have a knack for it. I use the saber, but it’s hard because everyone else likes epee better.”

“Any reason why you picked the saber and not the epee?”

Natalia chewed on her lower lip. “I think it’s because when I started fencing club last year, I watched all these videos on YouTube to see what I was getting into. With the epee and the foil, you have people dancing around, trying to get hits. But the saber fights looked the most intense, the most interesting to me.”

Al smiled, remembering. He’d seen people fence in person at Annapolis, not watch videos online, but he understood what Natalia meant. “Because they’re more focused on attacking, and you can attack whatever’s frustrating you…”

“Exactly! I have so much on my plate and I need an outlet.”

“Mm-hmm.” Al squinted one eye at her. “You have so much on your plate that you passed out for almost a full day.”

“...I did?”

“You’ll definitely be getting a break for the next few days. Don’t worry, Sam is taking care of everything for you.”

“But I’m working on so much!”

“He’s a supergenius. He can handle it.”

***

Supergenius that Sam Beckett was, he was having some problems. He’d really underestimated Natalia’s homework load. How did Natalia manage to get so much of her homework done, even with study hall? Half the problem was English homework, which was harder than he remembered. At least math homework, which he’d finished a lot of yesterday, was easy. Sam was almost considering skipping that day’s workout in the gym to finish the homework, but he had a tournament to make sure he won or at least could do well in.

After he changed into workout gear and walked into the gym, he saw a white teenage boy lifting dumbbells on the weight bench. His light hair was in one of those weirdly neat shaved-side hairstyles that Sam saw so much in this decade. His workout clothes looked brand-new, compared to Natalia’s torn up gear.. As Sam walked by, the boy said in a flat tone of voice, “Hiya taco.”

Sam squinted, then kept walking. No, that couldn’t be…?

The boy raised his voice. “Hey, spic. I was talking to you.”

Sam turned to stare at the boy, who was now sitting up. Behind him, Sam heard the Imaging Chamber door open. 

“So this is Thomas, your fencing partner,” Al said from behind him. “What a nozzle.”

“You realize I have a name, right?” Sam said to the boy. “It’s Natalia.”

“Whatever. What did Coach say yesterday? About me not being there?”

“He said you were out sick.” Sam had a sneaking feeling Thomas hadn’t been out sick.

“Yeah, he doesn’t like it when I have to ditch club to meet with my private coach, so it’s easier to fake sick.”

“Private coach? Could you give me their number?” That would be easier than Al having to run him through everything since the coach didn’t help as much.

Thomas laughed. “Forget it, taco, you couldn’t afford him, especially not with your papa in prison. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow… don’t like food to mix too much with my exercise, dig?” He got up and sauntered out of the weight room.

Al stared after him, his lip curled. “No wonder Natalia got so upset about this nozzle.”

“She got upset?” Sam repeated as he turned to face Al. Now he could see that Al was wearing his officer’s sword in its sheath from his belt. He was also wearing his silver jacket over a baggy green shirt and equally-baggy black pants shot through with gold thread. Sam’s holey black T-shirt over gray gym shorts felt schlubby in comparison.

“She thought her being in the Waiting Room was part of some big plan by this… Thomas… to sabotage her.” Al gestured towards where Thomas had left, his eyebrows pulled down with anger. 

“He said he ditched club yesterday to work with his private coach. Why bother coming if he has a private coach?”

Al shook his head. “I can think of several reasons why a nozzle like him would want to do that. First reason, he wouldn’t get to squish down the little guy- or little girl- if he only trained with his private coach.” He stuck his cigar in his mouth then punched at his handlink. “Natalia told me that Thomas hates that she’s in the saber division with him. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to trip you up on Saturday.”

Sam’s eyes were still narrowed. “And Natalia’s father is in prison?”

“Yes. She’s sensitive about that. Something to do with drugs. I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Sam, but I think that’s one reason why Thomas got to her. Tearing your enemy down psychologically makes it easier to take them down physically. But that’s a dirty trick. Come on, Sam, let’s train. Do you have your saber with you?”

Sam had asked permission to borrow it earlier that day, and he went to the locker room to get it. He returned with it, saying, “At least he didn’t think to break into my locker and steal this!”

“His little brain doesn’t think quite that far. Come on, Sam, let’s discuss hits and approaches.”

That day, Al coached Sam through the finer points of a saber match. “The thing about sabers is that you have to be aggressive. I know, I know, you’re such a Boy Scout that you think of defending first, but this needs to be said. With saber, it’s not so much about the defense. It’s about whaling the tar out of your opponent and racking up points with all the hits you get during a bout.” He pulled his sword out of its sheath then walked a little ways back so that he was standing a ways from Sam. “Stand like me.”

Al walked Sam through the starting stances for a bout, and how to establish who was attacking first. 

“Now let’s try establishing right of way. The more right of way you have, the easier it is for you to get more points and win. Remember where the attack zone is?”

“From the waist up,” Sam said, his saber drooping at his side.

Al held his saber up. “Come on, Sam, try to hit me!”

Sam lifted up his saber, tried to lunge into an attack aimed at Al, then the tip dropped down. He lifted it up again, took a cautious step forward, thrusting out the saber, and then took that step back.

“Sam! What the hell are you doing?!”

“I’m sorry, Al,” Sam whispered. “I can’t hit you.”

Al rolled his eyes towards the heavens. “Sam. We are holograms to each other. When you’re actually fencing, you’re going to be wearing protective gear. Nobody is going to get hurt. It’s fine if you hit me, I promise. It's fine if you hit anyone else while fencing- that's the point!”

Sam’s eyes and saber tip were both still on the floor.

Al let out a loud and exasperated sigh. Then he walked over to Sam and waved his sword through Sam’s side. “See? You’re not going to hurt me and I’m not going to hurt you. You know who needs to be hurt? That nozzle, Thomas. You need to at least put a damn dent in his pride, make him lose.”

Sam finally looked up, a smile on his face. “Yeah! We need to beat him!” At “we,” Al had to smile too.

They practiced fencing, Al calling out various hits and helping Sam with watching where he’d go and how to hit faster. 

At a quarter to five, Sam held up his hands in a T-shape. “I gotta go to work soon.”

“Does Natalia ever catch a break?” Al asked.

“Andrew’s picking me up today, but tomorrow I have to go home after club and watch the youngest two siblings,” Sam said. He walked towards the locker room.

Al followed him in. “Who else watches them?”

“Everyone else on their days off. José, Ange, sometimes a relative.” Sam picked up his work uniform. “Do you have anything else for me, Al?”

“Not right now. Is there anything you want me to ask Natalia?”

“Why did she get into fencing?”

“She said it worked off her frustration, which I can understand. It’s her escape.”

“What about her plans? Does she want to go to college?” Sam had assumed Natalia wanted to go to college, since she was in quite a few honors classes. 

“I’ll ask. Do you think you can face down Thomas tomorrow?”

“I may need your help, Al. Or at least your support.”

“You know I’ll always be there for you.” Al watched as Sam departed for the showers.

***

At work, after the dinner rush, things slowed down enough that Sam could bullshit around with Andrew and talk about school and fencing club. Andrew told Sam about the epee fencers’ gossip, since that group met off-campus on the days they didn’t have club.

“Nobody’s happy with Thomas,” Andrew said. “This crap that his parents are throwing at him- public school to humble him, or more likely, humiliate him- isn’t really working.”

“Why isn’t he in a private school?” 

“He got thrown out of all of them. This is the last resort. Remember his bitching about his parents taking away his allowance so he could learn to be ‘self-sufficient’?”

“Uh-huh. And he doesn’t have a job?”

“He’s got ganja to sell. It’s a bummer he doesn’t smoke his own product. I think it’d really help.”

“Do his parents know he sells… that?” Sam wasn’t entirely sure on what “ganja” was, even through the holes of his swiss-cheesed memory. He made a note to ask Al about it later, since Al would know for sure.

Andrew gave him an incredulous look, then scoffed. “God, no. His parents would raise hell if they caught him selling. Hey! Maybe we could say something on social media, get his parents’ attention.”

“Social… media?”

“Dang, Natalia, why are you such a Luddite? You know! Tweet things! Face the book! Roll the… whatever that other blue site is, the one my little sister really likes.”

Sam blinked. This wasn’t helping. “How would this help against Thomas?”

“If we post something somewhere about Thomas’ dealing the ganja, and his parents see it, then he gets in trouble!”

This didn’t quite sit right with Sam. “His parents wanted him to earn his own money, right? Why can’t he sell things for money?” He had a vague idea of why Thomas’ parents not liking what he sold was bad, but he needed to ask Al how bad it was. But it could be useful, having Thomas' parents interfere somehow.

“So what do you want to do about Thomas? I know you complain to me almost every day about whatever name he’s chosen to call you or whatever he picks on you about.”

Sam allowed himself a small smile. “I’ll beat him. That’s how I’ll get back at him- by not letting him get to me. Hey, what’s your availability Saturday?”

“I’m in the tournament, but later than you. Why?”

“I’m going too early for Mateo to come with me. Can you take him to the tournament later? He says he really wants to see me fence.”

Andrew grinned. “Oh sure thing! Didn’t he come by practice a few times before? He’s a great kid.”

“Yeah. He says he wants to get into fencing too.”

“Excellent. In that case, I’ll tell him all about the wonders of the epee, and how it’s the most pure form of fencing…”

All Sam could do was laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

The school bell rang on that Thursday, and Sam Beckett, propelled by the crowds of high school kids rushing out of the building, headed for the gym. Fencing club was on again today.

As Sam emerged from the changing room, decked out in the fencing gear and holding his mask, he saw Thomas, swinging his saber. So he would indeed be facing off against him today.

The coach spoke to Thomas, asking him if he was well, then he turned to Sam. “Natalia, let’s see you two practice today. I want to see how you two will do on Saturday.”

Behind Sam, the imaging chamber door opened, and Al walked in, wearing a patterned brown-black vest over a billowy-sleeved orange shirt and cream-colored pants. His sheathed officer’s sword was hanging at his side.

“Remember, Sam,” Al said. “Step back when you’ve got a hit. They need to count the points.”

Sam put on the mask then held up the saber in his right hand, facing Thomas, who did likewise. The pair of fencers circled each other then advanced into each other’s space, striking as soon as they could and stepping back after each strike.

It was like Sam’s arm was no longer part of his body. All he had to do was keep moving forward into Thomas’ space and his arm would strike out for him without Sam’s brain even registering what it was doing. Al yelled out advice for Sam on how to dodge and weave from hits, and Sam followed it as well as he could, keeping an eye on Thomas. The saber at the end of his arm struck out at Thomas’ head, arms, torso, anything within range.

The coach called out points for each fencer and offered advice to both fencers. Thomas just grumbled his thanks through the coach’s advice, but Sam listened and asked questions. “How do I know where to duck?” he asked after one attack to the side of his head.

“Watch your opponent’s blade and where it’s going,” his coach told him.

The fencers continued to spar, circling and striking. Thomas hissed at one point, “Dirty spic,” and Sam’s arm nearly seized up, drawing back from Thomas. But Sam took a deep breath and then told the piece of the leapee inside his head that it was okay, that they would take down Thomas together. The arm relaxed. It went back into action, striking out at Thomas as Sam continued to dodge Thomas’ attacks the best he could..

Sam felt his body relaxing as it learned the rhythm of the bout, the rhythm of how Thomas’ body moved in attack. By the end of the bout, sweating like a pig, Sam was sure he would manage the tournament on Saturday.

The coach said, “Good job, Natalia, Thomas. I think you both will do well in the tournament.” 

After he left to supervise a pair of fencers using foils, Thomas said to Natalia, “I’m going to do better than you. You know why?”

Sam didn’t say anything, his eyes stony, as he stared Thomas in the eye.

“Because my family has always loved and supported me. It’s a given that they’re going to show up. Your family, on the other hand, is worthless. They’ve never been there for you, so why are you even bothering?”

“It’s what I’m good at,” Sam said, and strode off to the changing room. He wasn't going to let Thomas get to him.

Inside, Al was getting a good eyeful while Sam changed. “Ooh, Sam, you should Leap into more girls… you always get a great view.”

“You mean _you_ get a great view… Al. Focus. Did you talk with Natalia yet?”

Al’s head snapped around to focus on Sam, then he winced. “Shoot! Beeks said she wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I didn’t. I’ll talk to her tomorrow morning.”

“Please do. Oh, Andrew told me that Thomas sells ganja. Do you know how bad that is?”

Al stared at Sam, his eyes wide, then he burst out laughing. “Seriously? Not only is this kid an asshole, he sells weed? Does he not smoke his own product? And it’s not too bad, but it’s still illegal in this time.”

“I guess he doesn't smoke it. That’s what Andrew said too.” Sam rubbed his arm, then flexed it. At least it felt like his again.

“Is your arm all right?” Al asked, giving Sam a worried look.

“Yeah. I think I’m going to have Natalia’s help during bouts.” Sam smiled at Al.

Al tilted his head back, still looking at Sam. “Is this one of those… weird… things that happen to you on Leaps? Well, count me out.” He punched at the handlink, disappearing through the door.

After he left the locker room, Sam rode home with José, who was stopping in long enough to get dinner for everyone before heading off to work.

Dinner turned out to be simple- a little pork, a lot of rice and beans. Sam found himself missing the burritos from where Natalia worked and wondered if this was why she worked so many evenings. Then Jose departed for his job and Sam was left with the three youngest brothers- Mateo, Carlitos and Alejandro.

“Do you have homework?” Sam asked the boys. They all nodded.

Mateo said, “Don’t worry, Nat, I’ll check their homework for you. You can do your work without us bugging you.”

With her schedule being what it was, Sam wondered how often Natalia’d had to yell at her brothers to leave her alone before they got it. He thought of what Al had said, about Natalia having a hard time with her family, and decided to take a different approach.

He’d finished most of Natalia’s homework due within the next week in that day’s study hall, so Sam didn’t have much to do at home. On the other side of the table, Mateo was helping their little brothers with homework. Sam watched the brothers at work. When Mateo was helping Carlito with a particularly difficult problem, Alejandro tried waving to get his attention, then slumped over his homework, looking defeated. 

Sam scooted over so that he was next to Alejandro. “What do you need help with?”

“ _La maestra_ says I need to work on spelling those words.” Alejandro showed Sam the list of spelling words. “ _¿Ayúdame?_ Help? Read the words with _rojo._ ”

Half the words on the list were marked with red Xs. Sam looked at the spelling mistakes carefully- many were careless mistakes any first-grader could have made, but others were spelled with a Spanish accent. 

“Roof,” Sam said.

“R-u-f-o,” Alejandro spelled out.

“Can you spell it in Spanish? _Tejador._ ”

“No, roof is rufo.”

Mateo spoke up, looking up from Carlitos’ homework. “ _Tejador_ is Abuelita’s word, Alejandro. What’s the school word?”

“Roof.” Alejandro stuck out his lower lip. “R-o-o-f-o?”

“R-o-o-f. What’s Abuelita’s word for it?” Sam asked.

“She says _tejador,_ but Tio Josue says rufo, hey, let’s put a rufo on that house over there.”

“The school word is roof. You want to spell it like the teacher says, not like how our family says it. Can you spell roof?”

“R-o-o-f. Okay, how our family says it is bad.”

“No! Not bad! It’s different, that’s all. Different isn’t bad.”

“But how am I supposed to remember which is which?”

“You'll learn.”

Alejandro leaned forward, resting his round chin in his hands and pouting. “I don’t wanna learn how to spell. I’m gonna be Zorro when I grow up.”

“Soh-roh?”

“Yeah! I’m going to fight bad guys with my sword and get the girl.”

“Natalia’s going to be Zorro,” Mateo told his youngest brother. “I’m going to see her fence Saturday. That means she gets to fight people with a sword.”

Both Carlitos and Alejandro looked at Sam, their eyes wide and shining. “Wow! So you get to fight bad guys?”

Sam thought of Thomas and had to fight back a smile. “Not quite. It’s about seeing who can hit each other the most.”

“Can we come too, Mateo?” Carlitos asked.

“Wait, who’s watching you two tomorrow?” Sam asked.

“Ange is,” Carlitos said. “But I know she’d rather go to the mall instead of having to watch us.”

“What if I told Ange that Andrew was watching you on Saturday? Then when Andrew picks up Mateo to go to the tournament, he could pick up you two as well.”

Both Carlitos and Alejandro bounced up and down. “Please, please, Nat! Please! We miss you!”

“I need to talk to Andrew too.” Sam pulled the smartphone out of the jeans pocket. Tapping at the screen, he found the messenger app and sent Andrew a message: “Hey can you pick up my other little brothers on Saturday too? Mateo will keep an eye on them.” Then a thought came to Sam. He looked up and asked his little brothers, “Hey, want to learn how to fence?”

Both of the younger boys jumped up, but Mateo stopped them. “Homework first!”

After they finished, all three boys followed Sam into the small backyard, where he found sticks lying around from the various trees that hung over the fence. Then he taught them how to defend and attack with their makeshift rapiers.

After the sun went down, it was time for bedtime. The boys rushed through Al, who was standing on the back porch, a small smile on his face.

“How are those kids?” Al asked.

“Fine. Andrew said he’d take them to my tournament, along with Mateo. I think my plan is working, Al. I’m going to get Natalia closer to her family.”

“That’s good. But you can’t forget about beating Thomas either.”

“No, no, I won’t forget about that. Do you think Natalia will be all right, after I Leap out?”

“Oh, I think so. She’s smart as a whip, and she’s a tough kid.”

“And her little brothers really look up to her. Can’t be easy, having everyone else who’s older be so busy with their own thing that they hardly pay attention to the kids, except on those days when they have to watch them. Take Ange- she would rather go to the mall than spend time with her brothers.”

“But you’re here to make sure everything turns out all right for Natalia. It’s not easy, growing up poor.”

“You were poor too, but you turned out all right, didn’t you, Al?”

Al rocked back on his heels, thinking for a moment, then he smiled, an idea hitting him. “Yes, I did.”


	5. Chapter 5

Early Saturday morning, a few hours before Sam was expected to be at the tournament, Al walked into the Waiting Room. He was wearing his orange-and-black plaid coat over gray pants and a black shirt with a mandarin collar.

Natalia eyed his outfit as he walked in. “You look like my Tio Enrique in that coat. He sells car in this area that’s worse than where I live.”

Al gave her a one-eyed squint. “We are not here to discuss my clothes, and this coat is cutting edge stuff. I want to discuss your future.”

Natalia shook her head at his comment about his coat being top-notch fashion, then she said, “Coach said the best colleges have scholarships for fencing, and that’s where I want to go.”

“Great, you want to go to college. Why?”

“Mama never went. She couldn’t afford it- her parents were from the old country, and they wanted her to go to work supporting them instead of wasting her time on more school. So she worked, and she’s worked two or more jobs for as long as I can remember. My older brother’s going to be the same way, and he says he’s going to do what he can for a better future, including more money for a better life. I don’t want to be like that. I want an education.”

“Very good.” Al paced the room, thinking. Then he turned to face Natalia again and said, “Would you consider military service?”

“What are you, a military recruiter? I’ve seen the kids who get into the army. They end up being the same assholes they were in high school, only now they get to play unlimited video games and dick around with their buddies as much as they want.”

“Not everyone in the service is like that. Ever since I was a kid, I was always fascinated with planes. I wanted to fly them, but I was too poor for flying lessons. Then when I was in high school, a Navy recruiter told me I could go to school on their dime, and I could learn how to fly for free. Worked out pretty damn well for me.”

“And what, I could join the Navy, see the world?” Natalia rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard that crap a hundred times.”

“The Navy will give you an education for free, if you work for them for a few years. You wouldn’t have to worry about a fencing scholarship. But if you want to keep up the fencing, you could talk to your local senator, get them to give you a recommendation for the naval academy. They teach fencing there too. Having prior military service will open a lot of doors for you. It’s something to consider.”

“So when will I get to go home?”

“I’m hoping today. My friend Sam has one last thing to do, then you can go home, see your brothers, your family, all that.” And not have to deal with Thomas anymore, Al silently hoped.

***

Sam didn’t have long to go. They were on foil bouts now. Epee bouts, which Andrew would be involved in, were last. Sam was stretching, practicing lunges, practicing with the dummy, desperately hoping that Al would be here soon to help him out.

“Naaaat!” His little brothers swarmed all over him, shouting.

“Patience, you guys!” Sam said, laughing and hugging them back. “The saber bouts are up next.” He waved to Andrew. “Thank you so much for bringing them.”

“Not a problem at all. Your sister seemed relieved to be rid of them, if you ask me. Have you seen Thomas yet?”

“Not yet. I think he’s running late.”

“He’s got another thirty minutes. Okay, boys, let’s go check out the foil bouts, and I’ll explain exactly why epees are so much better…”

“Sam!” It was Al, waving his arms. Sam had been so distracted by Andrew and his brothers showing up that he hadn’t heard the imaging chamber door open. “I need you to write down something!”

Sam walked over to him, away from the boys. “Al, where’s the fire?”

“Never mind that! Do you have paper, a pencil, something, somewhere? A sheet of paper? A sticky note? A shopping list? A pen? A stick of graphite? Anything?”

“I think I have a notebook and some pens in the bag. Breathe, would you, Al?” Sam went to the locker room to find Natalia’s bag. After he found the notebook plus a pen, he asked Al, who was hovering nearby, “What do you need me to write down so badly?”

Al held up two fingers squished together. “This is just a itsy-bitsy reminder to Natalia, all right?”

Sam’s green glare drilled into Al’s face. “Al. What do you need me to write down?”

“Write down that she needs to talk to her local Navy recruiting officer in the next few years, or look into colleges with Navy ROTC programs.”

Sam opened his mouth to say something, then he shut it and shrugged. He wrote down what Al asked. “Can I ask why you needed me to write this down so badly?”

“I was talking to her this morning, about what she wants to do with herself, and she said she wants to go to college. So I told her to check out the Navy. Hey, it worked for me, so why wouldn’t it work for her? If she gets an A on the military job test, which she definitely will, she can get a great job. Or she can go to college. Either way, she’ll be set for life.”

“Any tips for today?” 

“Nope. I’ll be at your side to help you out.” Al's coat was off now, and his officer’s sword hung at his side.

Sam returned to the arena and continued his work-out stretches, with Al pacing around him, swinging his own sword and shouting out what Sam should do.

“So. You’re here. Ready to go back to the dirt?” a young man’s voice asked.

“Who are you calling dirt, ya dirtbag?” Al snarled, waving his sword at Thomas.

Sam wasn’t going to sink to Thomas’ level. “I’d think twice before saying anything. I know what you do for extra money.”

“So?” Thomas shifted from one foot to the other, while keeping his face blank.

“Aren’t your parents here?” Sam craned his head to scan the audience.

“Shut up, spic!” Thomas stalked off, his face flushing.

The saber bouts started. Sam faced off with other high school fencers from other schools and fencing clubs. Like with the bout against Thomas two days before, Sam let Natalia lead his fencing arm while he dodged his opponents’ hits and worked on getting the right of way.

He did well, Al noted. “Do you think the dirt comment is what set Natalia off? Or some other insult from Thomas? In the original history, that’s what got her thrown out?”

“Or Thomas did something. Listen, Al, all I need is to win and forget about that guy. I’ve got Natalia’s little brothers here. That should help as far as family support goes.”

“You need to get through this tournament, Sam. I think that’s what you’re here for- to help Natalia through this.”

Sam thought of the arm freezing up against Thomas and agreed. 

Soon, it was down to the final pool of four fencers. Three more bouts would be held to determine who was the regional winner, and Sam was to face off against Thomas for this particular bout.

As they stood, facing each other, Sam steeled himself. In his head, he assured himself, “We’re going to beat Thomas. We’re going to take down this nozzle. We’re going to make sure he’s beaten.” He wasn’t just doing this for himself but also for Natalia: his fencing arm was starting to tense up again.

The referee called the start of the match and Sam and Thomas moved in, marking their right of way. Sam made a few more strikes against Thomas than the other way, and the arm relaxed, getting into the mood. 

At one point, when Thomas got in close enough, he whispered, “Why don’t you go back to the Rio Grande, taco?”

Sam’s arm tensed so badly he lost the hit he thought he was going for, so he whispered back, “Why don’t you go back to the Atlantic, cracker?” The arm lost so much of his tension that Sam got two or three hits on Thomas easily. Or maybe that was Thomas being shaken that this little Mexican girl was actually standing up to him.

Sam moved swiftly through the rest of the bout, easily dodging Thomas’ hits and getting in many more. Then the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the bout.

The referee announced, “Natalia Torres, from East High School, is the winner of this match! You will face off against the winner of the next bout!”

Thomas threw his mask on the ground in disgust. Sam laughed as the referee hauled his arm up in victory, then his little brothers and Andrew swarmed him, surrounding him in a hug. When he walked back to where the other fencers from East High were gathered, he saw Thomas’ mother scolding him. “Your father would be so disappointed! Wait until I tell him about this tonight!”

Might as well make Thomas more honest while he was here. Sam said, “Why don’t you check his bag while you’re at it? I heard he’s got a little extra in there.”

Thomas snarled, “What would you know?”

“I know what I’ve heard- that you deal a lot of weed.”

Thomas’ mother gasped at this and Sam walked away, smirking.

Andrew said, “That was great, Nat, but what the hell was that about?”

“You said he’s still not humbled. If his parents knew he dealt, then they’d take a lot more away, right? Maybe even take away his private fencing instructor, really humble him down?”

Andrew grinned and jabbed a finger towards Sam. “I see what you did there.”

The little brothers were jumping up and down, shouting about Zorro, Natalia and how Natalia was exactly like Zorro, while Andrew was shushing them, telling them there was one bout left.

“Anything on her, Al?” Sam asked.

Al checked his handlink. “That 2024 librarian you leaped into a while ago really helped. Ziggy says Natalia won the saber tournament and will end up in the navy a few years from now. Meanwhile Thomas ended up doing nothing. He isn't listed at his father's company or anywhere else, so I guess his parents really cut him off, huh? Touché, Sam. Time to Leap!”

Surrounded by family, having finally made his Leapee happy, Sam Leaped out in a burst of blue light.


End file.
